1996.135: Frieze of Acanthus Scroll with Putti, Animals and Birds

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1996.135

People

Giulio Romano, Italian (Rome 1499? - 1546 Mantua)

Title

Frieze of Acanthus Scroll with Putti, Animals and Birds

Classification

Drawings

Work Type

drawing

Date

16th century

Culture

Italian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/293815

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Brown ink and black chalk with traces of white gouache on cream antique laid paper, lined overall with Japanese paper

Dimensions

18.2 x 36.6 cm (7 3/16 x 14 7/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• watermark: Fleur-de-lis
• inscription: Former mount, now detached and lost: By Richardson, Jr.: "is a Bas-relief (almost flat) if [is?] not mostly the same with this Dr: tis without any considerable difference. R. Jun." [Quoted in, "The Ellesmere Collection of Old Master Drawings," Leicester Museum, 1954, no. 96.]
• collector's mark: Bottom center: L. 2184 (Jonathan Richardson, Sr.)
• collector's mark: Bottom right: L. 2364 (Sir Joshua Reynolds)
• collector's mark: Bottom right: L. 2710b (Lord Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Jonathan Richardson Sr., London (Lugt 2184). Joshua Reynolds, London (Lugt 2364). Thomas Lawrence, London (Lugt 2445); to his Estate, sold; to Samuel Woodburn, London, 1830, sold; to Lord Francis, 1st Earl of Ellesmere, Egerton (Lugt 2710b), 1836 or 1837, by descent; to Duke of Sutherland, sold [through Sotheby’s, London, December 5, 1972, lot 75]; to Yvonne tan Bunzel, London. Sold [through Christie’s, New York, January 12, 1995, lot 7]; to Vermeer Associates Limited, Brompton, Ontario, sold; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1996

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Fogg Art Museum Richard Norton Memorial Fund

Accession Year

1996

Object Number

1996.135

Division

European and American Art

Contact

am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Publication History

• Samuel Woodburn, Fifth Exhibition of Works from Sir Thomas Lawrence's Collection, London, Lawrence Gallery, Jiulio Romano, Francesco Primaticcio, Leonardo da Vinci and Pierino del Vaga, exh. cat. (London, England, 1836), no. 4
• Catalogue of the Ellesmere Collection of Drawings at Bridgewater House (London, England, 1898), cat. no. 4
• Old Master Drawings, exh. cat., Leicester Museums and Art Gallery (Leicester, England, October 1952), cat. no. 56
• P. A. Tomory, The Ellesmere Collection of Old Master Drawings, exh. cat., Leicester Museums and Art Gallery (Leicester, England, 1954), cat. no. 96
• Catalogue of the Ellesmere Collection Part II; Drawings by Giulio Romano and other Sixteenth-Century Masters Collected by Sir Thomas Lawrence, auct. cat., Sotheby's (London, England, December 5, 1972), cat. no. 75, repr.
• Egon Verheyen, The Palazzo del Te in Mantua: Images of Love and Politics, The Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD, 1977), p. 108, repr. fig. 13 and repr. on title page
• Edward Saywell, Behind the Line: The Materials and Techniques of Old Master Drawings, Harvard University Art Museums Bulletin, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, 1998), vol. 6, no. 2, checklist no. 17, p. 27, and pp.13-4, fig. 11 and on front cover (detail, color)
• Old Master Drawings, auct. cat., Christie's, London (London, England, July 7, 1998), no. 7, repr.
• Janet Cox-Rearick and Richard Aste, Giulio Romano: Master Designer: An Exhibition of Drawings in Celebration of the Five Hundreth Anniversary of his Birth, exh. cat., ed. Janet Cox-Rearick, Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery (New York, NY, 1999), cat. no. 11, pp. 62-63, repr., and pp. 27 and 92

Exhibition History

• Jiulio Romano, Francesco Primaticcio, Leonardo da Vinci and Pierino del Vaga, Lawrence Gallery, London, London, 01/01/1836 - 12/31/1836
• Old Master Drawings, Leicester Museums and Art Gallery, Leicester, 10/01/1952 - 10/31/1952
• The Ellesmere Collection of Old Master Drawings, Leicester Museums and Art Gallery, Leicester, 01/01/1954 - 12/31/1954
• Behind the Line: The Materials and Techniques of Old Master Drawings, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/03/1998 - 12/30/1998
• Giulio Romano: Master Designer, Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery, New York, 09/16/1999 - 11/27/1999
• 32Q: 2540 Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/13/2019 - 07/24/2019

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